Understanding a consumer's skin condition or skin quality plays an important role in skin counseling and product selection/recommendation. It is important that a consumer understands the gap between their current skin condition versus its genetic potential or the genetic predisposition of their skin to develop certain undesirable skin imperfections such as, for example, skin wrinkles, skin spottiness, decreased skin firmness, decreased skin radiance, and decrease skin texture. Armed with this information, the consumer can directly, or indirectly with the help of, e.g., manufacturers, retailers, clinicians, and/or dermatologists, make an informed decision on the type of products (including medicament(s)) that could be useful to maximize their skin's potential or as a preventive measure to delay or offset the progress of undesirable skin features.
Generally, consumers rely on information about their skin condition in order to make a decision about the type of products (e.g., skin care, cosmetic, etc.) needed for their particular skin condition. Typically, consumers choose the desired products according to their limited understanding of their skin quality. For example, the consumer might have an impression of their skin quality from a self-assessment. However, it is easy for the consumer to incorrectly assess their skin condition. Another approach has been to use visual or imaging devices, which tend to provide a more accurate assessment of the consumer's skin quality (see Miyomoto, K., et al., Skin Res. & Tech. (2013), 19:e525-e531). These devices have limited value, however, because they can only provide a snapshot of the consumer's skin quality at one point in time. These devices fail to evaluate or predict the consumer's potential skin condition and/or risk of developing skin imperfections.
An improved method of evaluating skin quality and providing meaningful information and tailored skin care selections/recommendations to the consumer is needed. The need also exists for a system for assessing the skin condition for predicting the consumers risk of developing certain skin features, particularly imperfections, in the future.